The Spark

“Come on, Doll, don’t you want to see everyone?”

Bucky cradles me in his lap, his arms wrapped around me as he looks into my eyes with his own concerned blue ones.

“I left everyone” I whisper, my eyes flicking down to my hands which are fiddling with a ball of ice that was constantly shaping and reforming in my hands. “I left a note but I don’t know if anyone found it. I left Bruce’s lab and containment unit destroyed and left a human sized hole in his wall”

“Oh baby, they love you like family. Hell, you are family to Tony and Steve.” He reminds me, pressing a kiss to my forehead, prompting me to look up at him.

“If anything, they probably love you more knowing that you went after me. That you were strong enough to follow me throughout Europe, tracking down Hydra, developing your powers along the way.” Bucky moves his hands, so they were cupping my face, making me look straight into his eyes.

“Doll, they would be so proud! You found me! And saved me!” Bucky leans forward and brushes his nose against mine in an eskimo kiss, making me smile. “Y/n, I’m so proud of you!”

“Thank you, Bucky” I whisper, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in his neck, breathing in deeply in an effort not to cry. “Thank you, thank you”

“Ssh sweetheart, I know, it’s alright” Bucky coos as he strokes my ear, pressing sweet kisses over all the parts of my face that he can reach.

“Bucky, Y/n?” I twist around and look over my shoulder, seeing that Steve was standing a few feet away from us, a small smile on his face as he gestures to the door behind him. “Everyone’s waiting”

I bite my lip, gnawing at it until Bucky gently pulls my lip out from my teeth with his thumb.

“It will be alright” he says firmly, and I nod weakly, smiling shyly in response to Bucky’s large grin.

“You ready to stand up, sweetheart?”

I nod, and Bucky helps me stand up, his hands on my waist as he stands up himself. He presses one last kiss to my cheek then holds my hand in his, pulling me close to him. I position myself so I’m slightly behind him and to the side, wrapping my arms around his, sticking close to his side.

“You okay there, sweetheart?” he murmurs, and I nod my head, eyes squinting as we move out of the plane, clutching tightly to Bucky as he leads me down the stairs onto a pavement airstrip. I look around and I see a white building complex situated near the airstrip. I look towards Steve and he smiles as he gestures towards the complex.

“This used to be an old complex that Stark renovated a couple of months ago. He focused on it non stop when you were in SHIELD, and it was finished when you came back. He was going to reveal it the afternoon that Bucky got caught and you followed him.”

“Oh” I breathe out as I ogle the compound, a smirk on Bucky’s face as he squeezes my hand.

“After Hydra’s break in, Tony’s had us all moved out here. It’s nicer, quieter and no one knows we’ve moved out here.” Steve looks around with a sigh, a hand running over his jaw.

“But it’s still relatively new to what Buck and I are used to”

Bucky chuckles and follows Steve as he walks towards the complex, with me in tow. A short walk later we finally get to the main building. The door whirs open and reveals a modern reception-like area with nice carpet, a couple of appropriately placed furniture and lights that light up the entire room, highlighting the two staircases that lead further into the main compound and the elevator doors that shined in the light.

“Good afternoon Captain Rogers. I see that Sergeant Barnes and Miss Y/l/n are with you” I frown at the unfamiliar female voice that came from the ceiling.

“Where’s Jarvis?” I frown up at the ceiling, my grasp on Bucky’s hand tightening slightly.

“I am afraid that my previous successor, JARVIS, was disabled with a virus that eventually brought him offline three days after Sergeant Barnes’s kidnapping. Boss built me as a back up system that would take over if Jarvis was taken offline. My name is FRIDAY.”

I sigh, burying my face in Bucky’s arm, letting my hair cover my face.

“Nice to meet you, FRIDAY” I say quietly, the memory of JARVIS’S representation of himself as a ball of blue light flashing in my mind.

“Pleasure to meet you too, Miss. Boss is waiting in the common area, Captain Rogers”

“Thank you, FRIDAY” Steve calls out, gesturing for Bucky and I to follow him as he heads towards the elevators.

“You still alright, Doll?” Bucky asks as he walks forward, pulling me along with him. I nod absent-mindedly, my eyes flicking around the room.

“I’ll miss JARVIS”

“I know, Doll. I know” Bucky kisses the top of my head as the elevator doors slide open and we all step into the lift. I distract myself by running the fingers of one hand over Bucky’s ribs, moving down to play with the edge of his shirt. Bucky hums and I see him glance over at Steve before the doors slide open and reveal a hallway that lead towards what appears to be the kitchen.

I can’t help but smile as I look around the hallway, a memory of getting caged against the wall by Bucky’s strong arms and thick body and then getting caught by Steve flashing through my mind.

“You okay?” Bucky whispers as he squeezes my hand, a curious smile on his face as a reaction to my own smile.

“Mm hmm, just deja vu” I murmur, and Bucky looks around curiously before a smirk appears on his lips.

“I would make your déjà vu a reality but I don’t want to give Steve another heart attack”

I giggle and Steve looks over his shoulder, a smile on his face as he sees me smiling up at Bucky. I cautiously smile at him and he smiles broadly at me in response.

“Cap? Is that you?” Tony’s voice comes from the direction of the kitchen. I shrink against Bucky’s arm and he murmurs soft words to me, calming me down by rubbing his hand up and down my arm.

“Yeah, it’s me, Tony.” Steve turns around and walks closer to me, watching my eyes.

“Y/n, are you comfortable with doing this? The team won’t mind if you want to just go straight to your room with Bucky”

I bite my lip and Bucky and Steve both watch me.

“I’m alright” I say quietly, almost to myself more than them.

Steve smiled warmly at me then makes his way through to the kitchen, talking quietly to people there.

“Come on, Sweetheart” Bucky guides you forward, and I reluctantly do so, clutching his hand tightly as I walk into the kitchen and see everyone sat around a large kitchen table. I freeze, almost certain that I look like a deer caught in headlights. I can feel Bucky’s hand grounding me and I squeeze it hard. I start to tremble at the silence and the unnerving stares that everyone was sending me, and I grit my teeth when I feel ice crackle across my skin.

“Hey sweetcheeks” Tony breaks the silence as he sees ice spread across my skin and instantly steps forward, instantly distracting me.

“Hey, Tony” I say quietly, smiling shyly at him. He grins and takes a step closer to me.

“Is it okay if I hug you?”

I slowly nod, and I take a step away from Bucky, my hand clenching around thin air as Bucky’s hand slips out of mine. Tony gingerly walks forward and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. I relax in the tight embrace, sighing as I bury my face in his shoulder. And when he gently rubs his hand up and down my back, I choke out a sob, hands clenching in the material of his suit.

“I’m sorry, Tony, I’m so sorry” I gasp, and he just squeezes me tighter.

“Y/n, you have nothing to apologise for” he says firmly, pulling back to stare determinedly into my eyes. I bite my lip and glance over my shoulder at Bucky, and he shoots me a knowing look. I feel a flare of happiness jolt through me and I poke my tongue out at him. His face brightens and he smiles toothily at me. When I turn away from him, I keep a small smile on my face and Tony grins.

“Are you done hogging her Tony? We all missed her too you know” Clint huffed and I let out a choked laugh. I quickly look over my shoulder at Bucky for reassurance and he smiles warmly at me, nodding his head towards the group. I look back at everyone, taking a step towards the group, and everyone lined up, moving past me one by one as they give me hugs. Even Natasha gave me a hug even though she wasn’t one for physical contact. Admittedly, Vision didn’t hug me but he shook my hand warmly and laid his free hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently, I nodded at the gesture and he moves towards Wanda, wrapping his arms possessively around her, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I look around at all the adults, but I grunt when I feel a weight fling itself against my lower body and arms wrap around my waist. I freeze and In my shock, cracks appeared in the floor that spread outwards from me, but I looked down and saw it was just Cassie hugging me. She tugs me down to my knees and wraps her arms around my neck, whimpering softly.

“Cassie?” I question gently, and she pulls back, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

“Your aura, it’s mixed with dark streaks. Your whole body is so confusing with blacks and red. Dark colours are sad and bad colours” she frowns.

“Oh Cassie” I coo as I wrap my arms around her. “I was just in a very bad mood. People stole something from me that I love very much and I wasn’t very happy”

“Him?” Cassie points at Bucky, whose eyes widen as the attention falls to him.

“Yeah, him” I smile at Bucky who smiles back at me lovingly. “He’s the love of my life. Cassie, one day you will find someone, man or woman, who you love so much that you would do anything for them. But don’t let them take advantage of that if they don’t love that much back. Alright?”

Cassie nods her head wisely and I gently shoo her back to her father. I quickly get to my feet and retreat back to Bucky’s side, clutching his hand in mine. He coos quietly and presses a kiss to my forehead.

“You’re doing so well, sweetheart” I clutch his hand tighter at the praise and lean my head against his shoulder.

“Hey, Y/n”

I lift my head up from Bucky’s shoulder when I hear Wanda’s soft voice, and then I see her walk in front of me, her body language open and relaxed, not a threat to me or Bucky.

I send a small smile to her and Bucky pulls me closer to him, smiling at Wanda also.

“Hey Wanda” he greets, and Wanda smiles up at him.

“Hello, I know you have been through a lot but I wanted to see how you were doing now you’re back”

I blink, my eyebrows furrowing as I think about Wanda’s question. How was I feeling? I hadn’t felt anything apart from mind blowing anger and numbing pain for three weeks, and then when I caught up with Bucky I had felt mind blowing joy then paralysing fear at the nightmare that I had had. My emotion were only at extremes, it was either feeling nothing at all or everything.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn’t realise that the air in the room had started to swirl around me, and when I felt a large hand land on my shoulder that wasn’t Bucky, I flipped. I felt my eyes widen as I spun around and I landed an open handed thrust into the offender’s chest, using my power over the air and sending him flying back into a nearby wall. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu of doing the same thing but with fire and a younger blond man.

I look from side to side, everything fuzzy around the edges and everyone’s faces an undecipherable blur. I whimper, my mind labelling everything as a threat because they were all taller and stronger than me, but I was determined to protect what was mine, to protect Bucky.

Bucky! My mind shouted as I frantically looked around, the threats moving backwards so they were lining the sides of the room. Where is Bucky? No, I just got him back I can’t lose him again.

“Doll, I’m okay”

I spin around and feel myself relax when I see Bucky standing behind me, his eyes concerned as he watches me. He opens his arms slightly and beckons me forward.
“Come ‘ere, Doll. I’m alright”

I whimper as I sprint into his arms, forcing him to take a step back from the force of me running into his arms. I bury my face against the side of his neck and my arms wrap around his waist.

“I’m sorry – I don’t – I couldn’t see” I whisper as my eyesight slowly clears and everything comes back into focus but Bucky just hugs me closer, pressing soft kisses to my hair.

“Ssh, it’s alright, Y/n, everyone understands. And it was only Thor you tossed into a wall. I’m sure Asgardians do that all the time” he chuckles slightly and I look over my shoulder to see Steve and Sam helping Thor out of the God sized hole in the wall.

“I am alright, Lady Y/n!” Thor calls out as he waves Steve and Sam away from him and he brushes some wall plaster off his armoured clothes. “And I am extremely sorry, I never should have touched you while you were in such distress”

“You guys – you can’t -” I pull away from Bucky slightly, so I can turn around and face the rest of the team, but my hand still held his. “You can’t come near me when I’m like that. I didn’t – I couldn’t see or recognise anyone; your faces were all a blur. All I could think of was Bucky and to protect him. I saw you all as threats for fucks sake!” I yell, my hands lighting up on fire. As I breathe heavily, I gasp as I look behind me but sigh in relief when I realise that my flaming hand was holding Bucky’s metal one, not his flesh one.

“Its like – its like I become manic when I’m like that, my only thought is to protect Bucky” I whisper, sinking down to my knees in front of Bucky, letting go of his hand but I lean against his legs, my eyes focused on the floor. I sigh and feel Bucky shift his legs so there was a space in between them and I settled further in between them. I hum absentmindedly, my eyes focused on the floor as an intense calm flows over me, the warmth and solidness of Bucky’s legs grounding me.

……………………….

Bucky looks down sadly at Y/n as she sighs and settles further against his legs. He then glances up at sees Wanda’s eyes fade from red back to brown. Wanda sighs when she sees him staring at her, and she gestures to Y/n who was staring at the ground, her breathing deep and even.

“She was already feeling calm after her outburst, I just intensified it”

Bucky growls half-heartedly but with no true malice behind it, because he knows that it was best for Y/n.

“Her mind though, it’s a mess of intense emotions and one main thought, to protect Bucky” Wanda says quietly, her eyes focusing on Bucky’s face. Tony sighs and crouches down so he can see Y/n’s face, the way it was tense and how she was pushing back against Bucky’s legs.

“What caused this obsession, Wanda? Like, no offense Frosty, but normal relationships don’t include manic obsessed girlfriends”

“It might be a side effect of her powers” Bruce muses, taking off his glasses and polishing them on his shirt. ” Remember when I theorized that Y/n managed to keep up with Bucky across Europe because she was absorbing raw energy from the earth with her powers? Well, a side effect may be that the raw power is affecting her mind, her love and affection for Bucky turning into an obsession”

Everyone is silent as they process Bruce’s words and Bucky feels a tear slide down his cheek. Everyone notices but no one says anything, working through their own emotions.

“Will it get worse?” Bucky says hoarsely, and Bruce gulps.

“I- I don’t know. From everything she has been put through, the serum, nearly killing you, her time in SHIELD isolation and then chasing after you, destroying and killing HYDRA soldiers, her brain is rewriting itself to protect you. And from what we’ve seen with Thor, she is potentially unstable now, so yes, I’m afraid it might get worse.”

Bucky takes in a deep breath and his hand clenches into fists by his sides. Steve frowns and he slowly moves in front of him, crouching down so his face is level with Y/n’s.

Y/n looks up from her lap and she smiles gently at Steve.

“Hey, Steve” she says quietly, and Steve smiles back but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Y/n, do you need anything?” he asks gently, and Y/n purses her lips as she thinks, before she shakes her head.

“I don’t think so, just want to stay with Bucky” she looks down. “Don’t want him to get taken again, don’t want him to hurt”

Steve inhales sharply and looks up at Bucky, his eyes sad.

“Y/n are you sure you don’t want to sleep, or eat something?”

Y/n shakes her head firmly. “Don’t need to. It’s funny, when I was chasing after Bucky, I found that I didn’t need or have the urge to do either”

“Sweetcheeks, are you saying that you haven’t slept or eaten in the last three weeks?” Tony crouches as well, his elbows on his knees as he looks at Y/n in concern.
“I suppose so” she shrugs, and then her head jerks up, her eyes focused on the kitchen door.

“Someone’s coming up here, fast. I can hear their heartbeat, he’s agitated”

“General Ross has entered the complex, Boss, and is heading up to you” FRIDAY chimed, and Tony groaned as he stood up, smoothing out the crinkles in his suit.
“Oh God, this is not going to end well” Sam muttered as the kitchen door was shoved open and General Ross stormed in, his grey hair groomed to perfection and the medals on his uniform gleaming in the light. Tony quickly moved in front of Bucky and Y/n, the whole team subtly walking forward and creating a barrier between him and them.

“General Ross, what a pleasure to see your greying face” Tony snarked and Ross stormed up to him, his eye twitching.

“Tony, I’ve had information passed to me that you finally brought in Barnes and Y/l/n into the complex.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I thought I told you to inform me when you found them?”

“Uh, no, you told me to but I never said I would” Tony rolled his eyes an Ross groaned to himself.

“And what is it to you?” Steve demanded as he stood next to Tony, his eyes narrowed at Ross.

“They are both a danger to the general population! Y/l/n has been reported all around Europe for destroying private property and being a general menace as she chased after that good for nothing Barnes! And who knows what they did to him, whether they reconditioned him to become the Winter Soldier again or something worse!”

Y/n’s head jerked up as she hears Ross’s words and she growls, her eyes glowing blue but Bucky quickly crouched down and wrapped his arms around her, distracting her.

“Ssh, Doll, don’t listen to him, just pay attention to me” he whispers, and Y/n nods slowly, letting out a breath.

“Y/n is not a danger to anyone, General Ross! She has not killed civilians and has only destroyed warehouses that were practically crumbling already” Steve said firmly, but Ross shook his head.

“Sorry Rogers, but the world council wants her brought in. She is an Alpha level mutant as well as being an supersoldier, she needs to be contained.”

“Oh no, you are not touching her” Natasha snarls as she steps forward, but Ross glares at her.

“I can easily get you thrown into jail for your past actions, Ms Romanoff, do not test me” he glares around at everyone. “I can get you all thrown in jail for your previous history, so don’t push me”

“What you don’t understand, Ross, is that they are both family. They are people with rights and will not go with you” Tony frowns.

“What you don’t understand, Stark, is that they both lost their rights when they both can single handedly murder anyone they god damn please and destroy whatever the hell they want. I should have put down Barnes when I had him, that way he wouldn’t be such a pain in my ass”

Y/n’s eyes widen in rage when she hears Ross threaten Bucky’s life and she pulls out of Bucky’s grasp, bright blue flames running up her arms and matching blue eyes glowing as she storms through the group, her lips pulled back in a snarl.

“Take that back!” she growls as she storms up to Ross, who takes a few steps backwards in surprise before he neutralises his expression.

“What, that I should have put down your psychopath of a boyfriend when I had the chance?” Ross sneers, watching as blue veins start to show up under Y/n’s skin and ice crackled across her upper arms and around her neck.

“I will make you take that back” Y/n growls, her hands curling into fists, and the air starts to swirl around her.

“Oh, are you threatening me now? You’re just giving me more reasons to take you in” Ross sneers.

“Doll, come back” Bucky says quietly as he steps forward through the team, and Ross’s eyes flick to Barnes, scrutinizing him.

“Ah, so you are back as well. You going to call off your guard dog, Barnes?”

“Ross, you’re playing a dangerous game, goading both of them” Sam advises as he gently guides Wanda, Pietro and Peter towards the wall and away from the potential fight between Y/n and Ross.

“Y/n, I need you to come back with me” Bucky continues in a calm voice as he steps up right behind Y/n and tenderly wraps his metal arm around her waist, securing her to him. Y/n is breathing heavily as she stares at Ross, but at Bucky’s insistent tugging, she takes a step back. And as she steps back, Ross scowls, as if he wanted Y/n to attack him. So he decides to go one step further.

“You won’t be able to protect him forever, Y/n. It’ll either be HYDRA, or another new evil organization, or it will be me or SHIELD. My mission is to bring the both of you in, dead or alive, and I won’t hesitate to kill him. It’ll be my service to the human race to get rid of a murderous shit stain like him”

Y/n freezes, and the kitchen walls started to shake as cracks spread up the walls. Tony looks around in surprise at the walls and he also sees ice forming on the walls, creating stalagmites and stalactites from the roof and floor. He elbows Steve and gestures subtly around them, and Steve’s eyes widen as well.

“Thor, Sam, Clint, take the twins and Peter and get them out of here” Steve commands in his Captain America voice, and no one hesitates as they leave the room, Wanda looking pained as she clutches her head in her hands, her eyes squeezed shut.

“Her fear and sadness, it’s pounding at my head” she whimpers as she passes Steve, Pietro’s arm wrapped around her waist, supporting her.

“Doll, I’m alright, Ross is an arsehole and doesn’t know shit” Bucky moves in front of Y/n and cups her face in both hands, growling over his shoulder at Ross when he starts to object.

“Shut it, Ross!”

Y/n shakes her head, her eyes wide as they lock on Bucky’s face.

“No – I can’t – I need to keep you safe, Bucky!” she gasps, her hands coming up to grab at Bucky’s shirt. “Bucky, my head, it keeps repeating your name, over and over and over and it won’t stop, God the need to keep you safe is like the need to breath”

Y/n starts to cry, her body shaking as ice spreads across her skin and across the floor of the kitchen, and Bucky and Y/n are only barely aware of Ross speaking in a walkie talkie, his eyes cold as he focused on the back of Bucky’s head.

“Ross, what are you doing?” Steve demands as he strides over to Ross with Tony right behind him, placing themselves inbetween Bucky and Ross. Bucky was desperately trying to calm Y/n down, but it was like Y/n was in a trance, her body shaking as she continued to exude ice like an aura and the walls continue to shudder and crack.

“Calling in reinforcements” he says smugly, and just as Tony and Steve start to object, a dozen special forces soldiers jog into the room, five of them armed with riot shields and the rest were armed with guns, all of the gun barrels pointed at Bucky and Y/n.

“Put your guns down!” Steve roars, but then Ross yells over him.

“Complete your mission, bring in Barnes and Y/l/n, dead or alive!”

At those words, Y/n eyes flick into focus and she looks past Bucky, her eyes hardening as she takes in the sight of the guns which were pointed at her, and more importantly, Bucky. She snarls and flames burst up along her arms, flickering bright blue.

“If you shoot Bucky, you will regret it” Y/n growls as she steps in front of Bucky, her lips pulled back in a snarl.

“You wouldn’t hurt the innocent, Y/n, face it. These men, they all have families, some have children, would you really hurt them.

“I’ve changed, General” her head cocks to the side like she was listening to someone, and a strange smile appears on her face. “You don’t know what I would do”
Y/n’s eyes light up with a strange light and an icicle forms in her hand, the sharp tip pointing towards the armed men.

“Y/n, Doll, what are you doing?” Bucky steps forward and in front of her, locking eyes with her, his hand reaching out to cup her face. Y/n sighs and nuzzles her face into his hand. She sniffs, her face relaxing slightly, but then her eyes blink and she frowns. She waves her hand and Bucky can hear the definite sound of electricity buzzing behind him. He turns around and his eyes narrow when he sees four tasers pointed at him, the wires suspended in the air, twenty centimetres away from him. He looks up at the people that were holding the tasers and he saw that their eyes were wide with surprise. Bucky hears Y/n grunt behind him and the live wires get sent flying back towards the sources, send the four men into shudders as their own tasers latch onto their skin, sending electricity through them.

“I’m sorry Bucky, but I can’t let them hurt you” Y/n says sadly as she uses her power over the air to grab Bucky, Steve and Tony and she pushes them against the wall, forming an invisible barricade, like a cage.

“Y/n! No!” Bucky yells as he punches the barrier of air, but nothing happens.

“Y/n, come on sweet cheeks, let us out” Tony begs, but I shake my head, my eyes focused on the remaining soldiers and General Ross. I sigh in relief when Steve stays quiet, his eyes curious as they study my face. After a moment, he lays a hand on Bucky’s shoulder and pulls him back, and he does the same to Tony. They both look at him in surprise, and he sighs, his eyes focused on my face.

“Guys, Y/n’s made up her mind, and she’s like both of you guys, once she makes up her mind, she won’t change it.”

“Aw, a family chat” Ross sneers as he moves to stand behind the remaining guards.” Y/n, come with us calmly and we won’t be forced to take violent measures, against you or your ‘family’”

I snarl and I stiffen when a jolt runs through me, emanating from my chest. I rip the offending taser wire off my chest, but when I grab it, electricity courses through my body and the smell of ozone taints the air. I hear everyone gasp and when I look down at my hand, I see tendrils of blue electricity wrap around my fist, twisting and writhing like they were a living entity. I grin as power surges through me and I shudder, cracking my neck from side to side as I step towards the group of soldiers.

“You really shouldn’t have threatened my family, General, or Bucky, because now no one can stop me, and my head, my mind” Y/n taps the side of her head. “Honestly, I can feel myself losing control”

Ross studies me, and that’s when my eyes flick to Bucky, eyes widening when I see tears falling down Bucky’s cheek. They were silent tears, his jaw tense and his hands clenched in fists by his side.

“Bucky?” I mutter in concern, then I cry out in rage when I feel three darts pierce the skin in my shoulder and chest. I growl and grab them, tugging them out of my flesh and throwing them to the floor, lifting my foot and stomping onto them, crushing them into pieces.

“What the hell? One needle is enough to knock out a horse in seconds” the leader of the group of soldiers mutters, and Tony barks out a laugh.

“Oh man, you’re utterly fucked now. Y/n’s body burns through foreign shit like that in seconds, alcohol doesn’t affect her, so your sedatives won’t do shit”

“Alright men, we tried to be nice. You’re free to use lethal force”

I roar at Ross’s words and I hurl my icicles at him but a riot shield suddenly pops up in front of him, shattering on contact. I growl and use the air to rip the riot shields out of the soldier’s hands, projecting them into the opposite wall, leaving them embedded into the plaster. I then stomp my foot into the ground and the floor undulates into a wave, knocking all the soldiers off their feet. Ross makes an irritated grunt and he grabs a pistol and aims it at me, his eyes squinting at me.

“Don’t you dare shoot her!” Bucky yells out in a growl as he tries to punch his way through the air barrier that I had made around them, but nothing happened. He then turns to me and looks at me with a begging look in his eyes, his hand splayed open and pressed against the invisible barrier just like he did when I was in the containment unit. Seeing it makes me pause, and Bucky starts to speak almost desperately when he notices that he’s gotten my attention.

“Doll, don’t do this. We can solve this without fighting, without hurting anyone. Come on, baby girl, you trust me, right?”

I nod as my attention is solely on Bucky, and I fail to notice three of Ross’s soldiers get up and aim their guns at me. Bucky also fails to notice as his attention is focused on me.

“That’s good, sweetheart, that’s good. You’ll be alright, and I’m alright, my beautiful Doll”

I can’t help but purr quietly at his praise, and I feel myself getting calmer as he continues to coo his praise at me, a gentle smile directed at me.

“Come here, Y/n, place your hand where mine is. Wanna see what a good girl you’re being, my strong, powerful, beautiful girl”

I slowly walk over to him, my eyes focused on his bright blue eyes, and I gingerly raise my hand till it’s hovering over the air barrier, right where Bucky’s hand was. I keep it hovering, and I smile shyly at Bucky when he nods encouragingly. And just before my hand presses against the barrier, my head twitches slightly to the side when I hear Ross speak.

“Fire”

I let out a shrill cry when I feel a barrage of bullets slice through the flesh of my back and my arms, the bullets lodging in my back and the bullets slicing straight through my flesh and into the air barrier, my blood spraying onto it and slowly dripping down it. I half collapse against the barrier, my back muscles twitching when I feel the bullets sending electric shocks into my body.

“What the hell?” Tony exclaims out loud, and Ross chuckles as he sends two soldiers towards me, I can sense them walking closer.

“A new type of bullets that the Army has developed. When your target is injured, you can incapacitate them even more. It’s sending electric shocks through her, as well as holding open the bullet holes so she’s also bleeding out.”

“You fucker!” Bucky screams at Ross as he falls onto his knees in front of me, his eyes focused on me.

“Doll, please, take down the barrier, let us help you”

I slowly shake my head as I breathe heavily, reaching one hand behind me to dig my fingers into one of the bullet holes in my left lower back. I whimper when I dig my index finger and thumb into the bullet wound, digging out the electrifying bullet. Once I get it out, I let it slip through my blood slicked fingers and onto the floor.
“Have to keep you safe, Bucky. Love you, Bucky, love you so much” I murmur under my breath as three more bullets get shot and they bury themselves into my upper back. I lean my forehead against the air barrier and I growl when my hands burst into flames, and my veins burn a bright red, trailing up my forearms and up towards my neck. I growl in discomfort as it starts to feel like my skin is getting hotter and hotter, like my whole body was on fire, not just my arms. I look up and into Bucky’s eyes, and we are so close that I can see myself in his eyes, and I can see my own eyes are burning a bright blue.

“Ross! Stop this now before it’s too late!” Steve yells, but Ross just snorts.

“Stop now! Just when I’ve worn her down? Not a chance. Men, grab her”

“I’m so sorry, Bucky. I promise I tried not to hurt anyone” I whisper as I keep my eyes locked on Bucky’s face, and his face contorts with sadness. I sigh, and I feel something inside me snap when I feel two pairs of hands land on my shoulders. I let out a yell and I spin around and rise to my feet, my hands finding my way to grasp at both of the men’s throats, my eyes narrowed in anger. I growl and I throw one of the soldiers backwards, knocking two of the other soldiers down to the floor. The one that I’m still holding by the neck scrabbles at his waist and draws a dagger, withdrawing it with a sharp hiss of metal against leather. His own eyes narrow as he raises the dagger, but before he can swing down and slice at my arms, I snarl and throw him to the ground, pinning him to the ground but straddling his stomach and quickly disarming him, using his own knife against him and digging the point against his throat. All I can hear is the ringing in my ears and the short bursts of breaths coming from the man that I’m ready to kill, to keep Bucky safe.

Bucky. Bucky wouldn’t want this, wouldn’t want me to kill someone. But this is to save Bucky, to keep him safe, I argue with myself. I growl to myself and lift the blade away from the man’s throat who is watching me with wide eyes, but I take in a large breath and press the tip of the dagger against his throat again.

“No, no, Bucky wouldn’t want this” I murmur to myself, whining quietly at the back of my throat as I punch the ground next to the soldier’s head, making him flinch. He’s watching me with wide eyes, breathing shallowly in order so that the tip of the sharp blade doesn’t pierce his throat. His hands are held up near his head in a gesture of peace. I punch the floor again, and again, hissing through my teeth as I push myself off the man, shoving him away from me and then I let out a cry of anger as I throw the knife into the wall, burying it in the wall plaster up to the hilt.

“Ah!” I clutch at my head as a spike of pain erupts behind my eyes, and when I feel warm liquid trickle down my cheeks, I wipe at my face, gasping quietly when I look down at my hand and see blood covering my fingertips.

“Bucky” I whimper, looking up to see Bucky, Tony and Steve looking at me with horror. Bucky is the first to snap out his stare and he quickly smiles at me, his eyes slightly wide with shock but he masks it well.

“Baby, you’re alright, it’s okay, just a little blood, no worse than a bad papercut” he reassures me, and I bite my lip as I nod, tears falling down my face as mixing with the blood, and I cry out again as a burst of pain blooms in my head. I’m so distracted by the pain in my head and my eyes closed in pain, that I don’t notice a soldier creeping up behind me, and quickly latches a collar around my neck. I let out a screech of anger and pain, but then I collapse, unable to physically move any part of my body, totally immobile. With my body immobilised like this, my barrier around Bucky, Steve and Tony disappears, and Bucky instantly rushes to me while Steve pushes away the soldier from me and Tony rushes up to Ross, arguing heatedly with him.

“Doll? Oh sweetheart, what did he do to you?” Bucky gently caresses my face, his thumb gently wiping away the blood and tears from my cheek. His hand then trails down my neck and he gently traces the metal collar that circles my neck, but when he slips his hand around the back of the collar where the release mechanism is, a loud voice disrupts him.

“I’m warning you, Barnes, don’t you dare take that collar off your girlfriend!”

Bucky growls as he caresses my cheek gently then stands up, storming up to Ross and pushing him up against the wall with his metal arm.

“Bucky!” Steve barks, but Bucky growls through his teeth as he waves Steve away.

“Why couldn’t you just leave us alone, huh? We can help her, but you’ve just made it worse!”

“Made it worse? Y/n is on the edge of a mental breakdown which can result in the levelling of city!” Ross barks out, and Steve quickly pulls Bucky off him before he can smash Ross’s face in.

“You don’t know that! You are making Y/n into what you think she could be, not what she actually is!” Bucky snarls as he shoves himself away from Ross.

I whimper in the back of my throat as I feel more warm blood trickle down my face and at the sight of Bucky being angry, and Bucky instantly returns to my side, pain etched across his features as he brushes away more streaks of blood from my cheeks.

“Ssh, sweetheart, you’re alright, I promise. We’ll get you to medical, get you checked out, no problem” his hands run down my arms and I blink slowly at him, tears mixing in with the blood. Then, even though my whole body is immobile, my eyes squeeze shut with the sudden burst of pain in my head. I feel my eyes roll back into my head as my body shudders, and I gasp as the pain runs down all my nerves in my body, only hurting even more when Bucky gathers me in my arms. He cradles me in his lap, his arms around my waist and back, holding me to him as he presses gentle kisses to my forehead.

“What is that god damn collar, Ross?” Steve barks as he crouches in front of Bucky and myself, his fingers tracing over the intricate metal of the collar at the back of my neck.

“Don’t open your mouth, Ross!” Tony snaps. “That collar is another Army prototype like the electrified bullets that are still in her body!”

“Get to the point, Tin Can!” Bucky growls.

“The collar has a needle in the back that pierces the back of the neck and expands tentacle like fibres that wrap around the spine and pretty much disable a person, leaving the target immobile. It also has a liquid paralyser that is constantly being pumped right into her nervous system”

“Oh, Doll, it’s okay, we’ll get you out of this soon, I promise” Buck coos when I whimper again, and as darkness starts to take over my vision, I feel the comforting press of his lips pressed against my forehead.